Paleontology News

Toxic Microbes Helped Cause and Prolong End-Permian Marine Mass Extinction, Study Suggests

An illustration depicting the onset of the end-Permian mass extinction. Image credit: Dawid Adam Iurino / PaleoFactory, Sapienza University of Rome / Jurikova et al, doi: 10.1038/s41561-020-00646-4.
Dec 20, 2021 by News Staff

Extreme warming at the end of the Permian period induced profound changes in marine biogeochemical cycling and animal habitability, leading to the largest extinction in Earth’s history. However, a causal mechanism for the extinction that is consistent with various records of geochemical conditions has remained unknown until now. An illustration depicting the onset of the end-Permian mass extinction. Image credit: Dawid Adam Iurino / PaleoFactory,...

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Brontosaurus acted as an ecosystem engineer in a warm and vegetated landscape not dissimilar to modern-day savannah type biomes. Image credit: Emiliano Troco.

Sauropod Dinosaurs Preferred to Live in Warmer, More Tropical Regions

Dec 17, 2021 by News Staff

Dinosaurs dominated Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems globally. However, whereas a pole-to-pole geographic distribution characterized ornithischian and theropod...

Life reconstruction of Brevirostruavis macrohyoideus. Image credit: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Cretaceous-Period Bird Had Hyper-Elongated Tongue

Dec 14, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

The bony tongue of the newly-identified enantiornithine bird species, Brevirostruavis macrohyoideus, was nearly as long as its head. Life reconstruction...

Cladarosymblema narrienense: (A) lateral head reconstruction of Cladarosymblema narrienense; color-coded as follows: dermal skull roof (dark blue), cheek (light blue), lower jaw (pale green), opercular series (purple), and pectoral (dark green); bones marked with ‘?’ remain unknown in this species; (B-E) micro-CT 3D rendering of all segmented bones in the holotype. Image credit: Clement et al., doi: 10.7717/peerj.12597.

Paleontologists Take Fresh Look at Carboniferous Tetrapodomorph Fish

Dec 14, 2021 by News Staff

Paleontologists have used high-resolution micro-CT and synchrotron tomography to scan two well-preserved 3D specimens of the tetrapodomorph fish Cladarosymblema...

An artist’s impression of the likely-endothermic Dimetrodon grandis, an early synapsid that was around for about 20 million years from the Early Permian epoch, 295 million years ago. Image credit: Max Bellomio.

Study Sheds New Light on Origin of Whole-Body Endothermy

Dec 14, 2021 by News Staff

The whole-body endothermy seen in modern birds and mammals is long held to have evolved independently in each group, a reasonable assumption when it was...

La Torre 6A tracksite map with the studied trackway in blue and the other footprints in gray. Image credit: Navarro-Lorbés et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-02557-9.

120-Million-Year-Old Footprints of Fast-Running Dinosaurs Found in Spain

Dec 13, 2021 by News Staff

Some species of theropods (two-legged dinosaurs) could reach speeds of 45 kmh (28 mph), according to analysis of Early-Cretaceous trackways of theropod...

The Chicxulub impact 66 million years ago generated a tsunami-like wave in an inland sea that killed and buried fish, mammals, insects and a Triceratops, the first victims of a cataclysm that led to Earth’s last mass extinction. Image credit: Robert DePalma.

Chicxulub Impact Occurred during Northern Spring or Summer: Study

Dec 10, 2021 by News Staff

About 66 million years ago, a 10-km-wide asteroid crashed into Earth near the site of the small town of Chicxulub in what is now Mexico. The impact unleashed...

A simplified evolutionary tree showing where bright colors appear on birds and other living species from the study and where these colors may have appeared on their extinct relatives, including dinosaurs; skin (shown in orange), and scales and beak keratin (yellow) could have been brightly pigmented in extinct groups, whereas feathers and claws would probably not have been; areas without bright color are shown in gray. Image credit: Sarah Davis / University of Texas at Austin.

Non-Avian Dinosaurs May Have Had Bright-Colored Skin, Scales and Beaks

Dec 10, 2021 by News Staff

Non-avian dinosaurs may have had bright color on their skin, scales and beaks in a manner similar to modern birds, according to a paper published in the...

Backlit shell of Sigaloceras enodatum with visible organs. Image credit: Cherns et al., doi: 10.1130/G49551.1.

3D Tomography Scans Reveal Jurassic Ammonite’s Soft-Body Parts

Dec 9, 2021 by News Staff

Using correlative neutron and X-ray tomography, paleontologists have examined an exceptionally preserved specimen of Sigaloceras enodatum — a species...

An artist’s reconstruction of Stegouros elengassen. Image credit: Luis Pérez López.

Subantarctic Armored Dinosaur Had Bizarre Tail Weapon

Dec 8, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of ankylosaur has been identified from an almost complete skeleton found in Chilean Patagonia. An artist’s reconstruction of...

An artist’s rendition of Quetzalcoatlus northropi. Image credit: James Kuether.

Fossils Reveal Unique Walking Behavior of Quetzalcoatlus

Dec 8, 2021 by News Staff

With a 11-12-m wingspan (37-40 feet), Quetzalcoatlus is the largest flying organism ever known and one of the most familiar pterosaurs to the public. Its...

An artist’s impression of a pig-nosed turtle. Image credit: Monash University.

5-Million-Year-Old Pig-Nosed Turtle Fossil Found in South-Eastern Australia

Dec 7, 2021 by News Staff

The upper Miocene to lower Pliocene fossil from Beaumaris in Victoria, south-eastern Australia, completely rewrites the evolution of pig-nosed turtles. An...

The skull of ‘Tristan Otto.’ Image credit: Hamm.

Tyrannosaurs Suffered from Bone Infections, New Research Shows

Dec 2, 2021 by News Staff

Using a CT scanner and a technique called dual-energy computed tomography (DECT), a team of scientists in Germany has identified a bone disease called...

New Zealand’s Extinct Giant Bird Killed Like Eagle, Ate Like Condor

Dec 1, 2021 by News Staff

The Haast’s eagle (Hieraaetus moorei), the largest known eagle, habitually killed prey larger than itself, then applied feeding methods typical of vultures...

Life reconstructions of Kyhytysuka sachicarum. Image credit: Dirley Cortés.

New Species of Hypercarnivorous Ichthyosaur Identified

Nov 30, 2021 by News Staff

A new species of Cretaceous hypercarnivorous ichthyosaur, Kyhytysuka sachicarum, has been described from a fossil found in Colombia. Life reconstructions...

Map showing the locality where Tarchia tumanovae was discovered: (a) map of Mongolia; (b) enlarged map of the dotted lined rectangle of A marked with the fossil locality; (c) photo of the excavation site; (d) quarry map showing bone location; (e-f) skeletal diagram of the specimen in dorsal (e) and left lateral (f) views (white bones represent recovered elements); (g) skeletal reconstruction with dermal armor. Abbreviations: 7os - Type 7 osteoderm; csr - caudosacral vertebra; dr - dorsal rib; dsr - dorsosacral vertebra; il - ilium; maj os - major osteoderm; ot - ossified tendon; sk - skull. Image credit: Park et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-02273-4.

New Species of Armored Dinosaur Discovered

Nov 29, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have discovered what they say is a new species of the ankylosaurid dinosaur genus Tarchia that lived during the Upper Cretaceous epoch...

Life reconstruction of Effigia okeeffeae. Image credit: Mark Witton.

Triassic Crocodile Relative was Specialist Herbivore, Study Reveals

Nov 29, 2021 by News Staff

Effigia okeeffeae, a shuvosaurid (an ancient relative of the crocodiles) that lived in North America during the Triassic period, was a specialist herbivore...

Life reconstruction of Kaririavis mater. Image credit: Divulgação.

Fossil of 115-Million-Year-Old Bird Found in Brazil

Nov 23, 2021 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists working in Brazil have uncovered the fossil of an ornithuromorph bird that lived during the Early Cretaceous epoch. Life reconstruction...

Life reconstruction of Berthasaura leopoldinae. Image credit: de Souza et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-01312-4.

New Ceratosaur Species Unearthed in Brazil

Nov 19, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of toothless noasaurid ceratosaur has been identified from an exceptionally complete skeleton found in southern Brazil. Life reconstruction...

Cretaceous ‘Four-Limbed Snake’ Turns Out To Be Long-Bodied Lizard

Nov 18, 2021 by News Staff

The origin of snakes remains one of the most contentious evolutionary transitions in vertebrate evolution. The discovery of snake fossils with well-formed...

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